Coronavirus: what Canadians need to know

Ontario reports just over 1,000 new COVID-19 cases of 44 more deaths (and vid)

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-reports-just-over-1-000-new-covid-19-...

"Ontario health officials are reporting just over 1,000 new cases of COVID-19. Health officials also reported that 44 more people have died due to COVID-19 which markes a significant increase from the 10 reported on Wednesday. Officials confirmed there are 348 cases of the UK variant, also known as B.1.1.7. and 10 cases of the South African variant, also known as B.1.3.5.1. found in Ontario as of Thursday. The province has also noted one case of the Brazil variant, also known as P.1 was also found in Ontario. Last week, experts, who prepared the province's most recent modelling data, warned that the COVID-19 variants could lead to a possible third wave of the disease...."

The City of Toronto's Dangerous Game and the COVID-19 Outbreak at Seaton House

https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/02/12/the-city-of-torontos-dangerous-g...

"In spite of a COVID-19 outbreak affecting dozens of residents and staff at what was once Canada's largest shelter, Seaton House, the City of Toronto's Public Health unit and Shelter administration say they have no plans to change policies, procedures and reporting practices. It is a dangerous game the City of Toronto has been playing in the Shelter system for years and now with COVID-19 cases. In the case of Seaton House, the chickens appear to be home and roosting."

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Pfizer-BioNTech tried to gouge the EU with $65 DOLLAR vaccine doses, German media report

https://on.rt.com/b283

"Drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech voted to charge the EU Commission 54.08 EUR per dose of their coronavirus vaccine, according to German media reports. The jab would have cost more than 20 times that of a rival shot from AstraZeneca. Pfizer-BioNTech has made no profit on the sale of vaccines according to the Suddeutsche Zeitung, and during negotiations last year reportedly told EU officials that the 54.08EUR. price tag already included 'the highest percentage discount' offered to any developed country..."

Yikes! No wonder Trudeau is silent on what Canada paid...

'Yellow peril' xenophobia NR...

COVID-19 Likely in US in Mid-December 2019, CDC Scientists Report

https://twitter.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1363945621149921280

"The CDC itself has acknowledged that COVID-19 was in the US in mid-December 2019, weeks before it was first identified in China. The attempt to blame everything on Beijing is a key strategy in Washington's new cold war."

Washington Post's 'Wuhan Lab' Conspiracy Theory Stands Exposed

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/02/24/pers-f24.html

"For nearly a year, The Washington Post has promoted the false claim that COVID-19 is a man-made virus released from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology. The campaign went into overdrive on February 5, when the Post published an editorial embracing the position of the Trump State Department, that 'a laboratory accident or leek' represents a 'plausible' explanation for the pandemic. That editorial was published under the headline, 'We're Still Missing the Origin Story of this Pandemic. China is still Sitting on the Answers.'

It called on the World Health Organization (WHO) team exploring the origin of the virus not to discount the Trump administration's claim that COVID-19 was a 'weaponized' virus that originated in a Chinese lab.

But the WHO team did exactly that, making clear that the 'Wuhan lab' theory did not meet its evidentiary criteria for further investigation - a polite way of saying that it is a lie. The WHO's statements have clearly thrown the Post into crisis.

The newspaper, which regularly promotes internet censorship in the guise that only 'authoritative' sources such as itself should be accessible to the public, finds itself exposed and at odds with the entire 'authoritative' scientific community..."

Health Canada Approves AstraZeneca's COVID-19 Vaccine

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/astrazeneca-approved-1.5929050

"Canada's regulator estimates vaccine's efficiency at 62.1%."

Canada COVID Update: 3/1/2021

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-live-updates-covid...

• Tracking every case of COVID-19 in Canada
• 'It was a boondoggle': Chaotic scenes in hotel quarantines
• Why children are hitting the wall in coping with COVID-19 pandemic
• Not sure which vaccine to get? You may not have a choice.

More on 'Long Covid'

https://youtu.be/HyHnx__oQlY

"2.5 m have died and 115 m people have been infected by COVID since the beginning of the pandemic, but still relatively little is known about the long-term effects of the disease. RT takes a deeper look into what is known as 'long-COVID.'

Opinion: COVID-19 - Surfing the Third Wave

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/02/covid-19-surfing-the-third-wave.html

"The second wave of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has receded and the people have had enough of restrictions. There is immense pressure to end the lockdowns and many politicians will do as their voters [and donors] wish. But there will be a third wave and it is likely to become larger than the second one.

Below I try to explain why that is the case and what it means for our societies. My conclusions may sound alarmist, and I may be all wrong, but the scenario is neither impossible, nor am I the only one who thinks so..."

What you need to know about Johnson & Johnson's approved single-dose vaccine

https://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2021/03/05/what-you-need-to-know-about...

"...Canada has already secured up to 38 m doses of the J & J vaccine through previous negotiations with the company however it's not expected that any will flow to Canada until at least April.

J&J announced promsing results from its Phase 3 clinical trials at the end of January, suggesting its vaccine reduced serious COVID-19 disease by 85% and prevented 100% of COVID-related hospitalizations or death. The vaccine had a 72% efficacy in preventing COVID infection after 28 days in the company's US trials.

Unlike the mRNA technology used in Pfizer and Moderna's products, J & J is a non-replicating viral vector vaccine similar to AstraZeneca's. The FDA document said no specific safety concerns were identified. Here's what we know about J & J's vaccine..."

COVID Canada Update: 3/7/2021

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/

• Ontario records highest number of new COVID-19 cases (1300+) in more than 3 weeks
• COVID-19 pandemic prompts recent newcomes to leave Canada for their home countries
• Milder reinfection may follow severe bouts of COVID-19, study suggests
•  

Canada COVID Update: 3/11/2021

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/

• Canada entered expanded COVID-19 vaccination phase this week: Fortin
• Denmark suspends use of AstraZeneca vaccine as 'precautionary measure'
• Health-care settings do not increase risk of contracting COVID-19, study finds

COVID-19 case declines have 'stalled', Ontario model says 6,000 cases a day possible by April

https://www.cp24.com/covid-19-case-declines-have-stalled-ontario-model-s...

"...The Ontario COVID-19 Science Table says that outside of the vaccination of all willing residents and staff in longterm care homes, 'progress has stalled' in combatting the pandemic in the province. As of March 6, cases were increasing markedly in all but 13 of the province's 34 local public health units.

In the 'medium' scenario outlined by modellers, cases will reach 5,800 per day by early April, and could hit 8,000 per day in the worst case scenario. Even in a more optimistic projection, cases reach 1,650 per day by April 2. The modellers suggest the relaxing of restrictions across the province in late February as well as the contined growth of B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant is to blame for an end to declines, which modellers now believe is more deadly than earlier strains as well as being more transmissible.

The scientific director of The Science Table said Thursday that a third lockdown, even more restrictive than what existed in the past, is inevitable. The levelling off in case declines has already shown up in hospitalizations..."

1700 new cases reported in Ontario.

COVID-19: Status of Cases in Toronto (1000 +new cases)

https://twitter.com/IrfanDhalla/status/1371791832766676995

"Surprised to see Toronto relaxing restrictions when city's own dashboard shows..."

"All these European countries that are very worried about rising cases and imposing new restrictions? They've all vaccinated more people than we have. We won't win the vaccine vs variants race unless we put some obstacles in the path of the variants."

https://twitter.com/IrfanDhalla/status/1371813487744327684

"We had a year to plan for this. A year to build vaccine appointment booking systems. A year to build better IT systems. A year to pick vaccination sites and sign pharmacy deals and hire staff. Every single part ot this has been last minute."

https://twitter.com/Justin_Ling/status/1371558731310333957

Ontario logs more than 1,500 new COVID-19 cases, 14 more deaths

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-logs-more-than-1-500-new-covid-19-cas...

"...The seven-day rolling average of daily cases now stands at 1,361. Wednesday's infections also mark the 11th consecutive day in which the daily case count has been in the quadruple digits..."

'Do you have the capacity to accept rescue transfers today if needed?"

https://twitter.com/drmwarner/status/1373064178244673538

"While Govt of Ontario lives in a fantasy world where it makes sense to lift public health restrictions as Wave 3 gathers momentum. This is the reality of Ontario;s hot zone ICUs."

COVID-19 Pandemic LIVE: World Map/Count

https://youtu.be/NMre6IAAAiU

 (Updating)

The UNHRC voted 32-6 to call upon Israel as the occupying power to comply immediately with its international law obligations to the protected occupied population, and ensure non-discriminatory access to COVID-19 vaccines.

https://twitter.com/mbueckert/status/1374747538998329354

"Remember when pro-Israel groups were saying it was antisemitic to say Israel's vaccine program was discriminatory? Germany and France are among the countries that passed this motion calling on Israel to provide vaccines to Palestinians under its control..."

Why won't Canada make such a call?

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AstraZeneca jab's effectiveness slips to 76% in new test data after vaccine maker comes under fire for submitting 'outdated' info

https://on.rt.com/b4jg

"Workers around the world lost $3.7 trillion in the pandemic. Billionaires around the world gained $3.9 trillion in the pandemic. It's the highest one-year wealth transfer in history, yet somehow barely anyone is talking about it..."

https://twitter.com/DanPriceSeattle/status/1375189204125114371

Yet-to-be-released analysis suggests 60% higher risk of death from COVID-19 variants

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/covid-variants-death-analysis-ont...

"Variants of the virus behind COVID-19 double the risk of someone being admitted to intensive care - and increase the risk of death by roughly 60 percent - according to a new analysis of recent Ontario data from the province's science advisory table, multiple sources tell CBC News..."

Money talks.